Samsung steals top Android phone manufacturer crown from Motorola

Motorola is no longer the king of Android phones, as Samsung is responsible for 32.1 percent of all Android phones shipped in the US this past quarter, according to a report by the research firm Gartner.

The cause of Samsung’s smartphone success isn’t a big secret. Clearly, the company’s multi-carrier approach with its high-end Galaxy S Android phones is taking off. The shipment numbers are a 300 percent increase over Samsung’s Android ship rate in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Given that Samsung announced that it shipped 3 million Galaxy S phones in early November, and that the phones are available on all major US carriers, it’s also not a huge surprise to see Samsung now in the top Android phone maker spot. Gartner reports that Motorola fell to the No. 2 spot, with HTC and LG in the third and fourth spots respectively.

As for the Tab — which is also available across all major US carriers, and retails between $400 (with contract) and $650 — Samsung is proving that it can compete somewhat with Apple’s iPad. The sales numbers are impressive considering that the Tab garnered mixed reviews. Despite its flaws, it appears that some consumers are still choosing it over the iPad, perhaps because of its smaller form factor — or simply because it’s the only viable Android tablet on the market right now.